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MOVIE REVIEW
While not exactly a golden rule, it is known fact that if a movie does well in the box office, chances are good that it will be followed by sequel and more often than not, we’ve come to expect that the sequel won’t measure up to the original. Add a third movie to the mix and you’re just asking for trouble. With animated movies, the expectations are often even lower. (Is anyone really surprised that the Ice Age movies keep getting worse?) But sometimes, as is the case with the Disney/Pixar Toy Story movies, we’re pleasantly surprised. Now you can add How to Train Your Dragon to that short list too.

One thing that DreamWorks Animation has understood about this series is that the story comes first, the hijinks come later. The very first Dragon movie proved that way back in 2010 with a strong story and with each chapter that has come after it, that story just keeps getting better. What started out as a cute kid’s story has become a powerful trilogy. We've seen these chara…

'Beverly Hills 90210' + 'Friday Night Lights' = 'All American'

TV SERIES REVIEW
Inspired by the life of NFL player Spencer Paysinger, All American is The CW’s newest family-ish soap opera drama that is part Friday Night Lights and part Beverly Hills 90210. The story centers on Spencer James (Daniel Ezra) a hot-headed high school football star at South Crenshaw High School. Spencer uses his anger for his father that left his family years ago to feul his energy on the field where one football game victory is quickly interrupted by a drive by shooting. For some it’s a shocking event, for others, it’s just another weekend.

Watching this particular game is Billy Baker (Taye Diggs) who is actually Beverly High School’s football couch on a mission to recruit Spencer to switch schools and play for him. Spencer knows that Billy can’t be recruiting players but Billy says that everything for a school transfer would be completely legal. He says that he can provide a way from Spencer to move up in the world and pave the way for him to make it to the NFL some day.

Spencer isn’t convinced that this would be the best plan for him, but the urging of his mother Grace (Karimah Westbrook) and best friend, Coop (Bre-Z), he decides to give the high class with sushi Fridays a look-see. On his first day there, he is surprised to see all of the other students pull out their laptops to do their schoolwork while he doesn’t have one. One student, Olivia (Samantha Logan) lets him look over hers and she introduces him to her group of friends including Jordan (Michael Evans Behling) who happens to be Olivia’s brother and both just happen to be son and daughter of Coach Baker.

As to be expected, Spencer doesn’t mix in well with his teammates and some plot to find a way to get rid of him like invite him to a “little” party at one of the kids’ homes and get him smashed so that he can’t function well the day after. (This might be the weakest part of the pilot episode. I can’t tell if it seems unrealistic because of the supposed extravagance, the fact that some kids are drinking and snorting and no one is alarmed by this or that the fact that the there appears to be no adult on the premises. Yes, I am well aware that drinking and drugs at teen parties are nothing new, but like Riverdale, the show wants us to believe that these teens can handle their booze like a responsible adult. Even if they could, this seems like irresponsible plot choice for a show that has the potential to attract a lot of teens.)

Soon, Spencer’s transfer to the new school becomes a problem and in order for things to be “up and up,” he’ll need to move in with Coach Baker, an idea that doesn’t sit well with Baker’s son. Before the episode is over, we find that this idealistic family may not be so idealistic after all. The coach’s kids have their own anger issues as well, but for different reasons and as if the show had ran out of time to explain everything, it teases that Spencer’s friend Coop might have joined a gang and Coach Baker pays a visit to Spencer’s mother and says, “We have to tell Spencer…” and just like that, the show goes from Afternoon Special to adult soap opera.

At this point, it’s hard to say if All American “works” or not. The show feels a bit unbalanced where some scenes feel unrealistic and then are followed by some tenderness between Spencer and his mom. Also, it’s hard to feel compassion for those struggling in Beverly Hills, but hey, it’s been done before. What makes this show worthy a watch is the casting. Even if their characters haven't all been fleshed out just yet, the actors are still enjoyable to watch. It’s still too soon to see the ultimate direction this show is going to go or which show it wants to be. Soap opera or family drama. I'd hope for a side of wholsomeness, but that is probably asking too much.

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MOVIES
It’s hard to believe that it’s been five years since everything was awesome, at least in the world of Lego as seen in the original Lego Movie. Since then Lego-themed movies have been released, none of which have been as popular, lucrative or received as much praise from critics as the original.

Now the gang is back in The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part but everything appears to be less awesome as Bricksburg has become Apocalypseburg and is getting worse when this world is threatened by Lego Duplo invaders from outer space. Still, just like is real life, Legos can always rebuild.

It takes a lot of physical and CGI Legos to create a movie. Here is a breakdown on how that looks:

2: The number of characters Chris Pratt, Stephanie Beatriz and Alison Brie play in the film. (Pratt plays Emmet and Rex Dangervest, Beatriz plays General Mayhem and Sweet Mayhem and Brie plays Unikitty and Ultrakitty)

3: The number of times Will Arnett has voiced the role of Batman in a Lego movie.

TVAmerica’s Got Talent: The Champions brought back 50 of the best acts from the different world versions of the show to compete one more time for the chance to win a really impressive (or tall) trophy, $25,000 cash and pretty incredible bragging rights. The two-hour presentation began with an hour full of filler of past acts, silly bits and interviews with the dozen remaining acts hoping to win.

Soon the 12 was whittled down to five including ventriloquist Darci Lynne Farmer, sand artist Kseniya Imonova, card magician Shin Lim, singer Cristina Ramos and comedian Preacher Lawson. And during the show’s last five minutes of the show the winner was revealed.